UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has expressed deep concern over the surge in the number of desperate Rohingya refugees reportedly dying or?going missing while taking?risky boat journeys in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal during 2023.
Some 569 Rohingyas were reported to have perished or gone missing last year in South-East Asian waters, with nearly 4,500 embarking on deadly sea journeys - a significant increase on previous years, the UNHCR said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
The number of people reportedly dead or missing is the highest since 2014, when the total reached 730.
The findings for 2023 include some shocking details. The total number of people reportedly dead or missing was 200 more than that in 2022.
Survivors have shared horrifying accounts of abuse and exploitation during the journeys, including gender-based violence.
"Estimates show one Rohingya?was?reported to have died or gone missing for every eight?people attempting the journey in 2023. This makes the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal one of the deadliest stretches of water in the world" it adds.
The majority of those who attempted journeys were children and women - some 66?per cent of them embarked on deadly journeys.
The refugees have been departing from Bangladesh and, to a lesser extent, Myanmar.
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